The Frank and Joe Show

Last night, Mary and I went to the Elkart Jazz Festival and saw one of my guitar heroes, Frank Vignola. He was there with Joe Ascione. The two of them are known as "The Frank and Joe Show." The current lineup includes Frank on guitar, Joe on percussion, Rich Zucor on percussion, and Vinnie Raniolo on guitar and bass. They have 3 CDs: 33 1/3, 66 2/3, and the latest, Submarine Bus. During the set we saw, they played the standards, Begin the Beguine and My Prayer, from the 33 1/3 and 66 2/3 CDs respectively, and otherwise played originals like Vinnie the Urologist, Barry's Trading Soybeans, and BBBBBADLP. All good stuff, and funny. The best part is that Bucky Pizzarelli and Jake Hanna were among the jazz players who were to follow Frank and Joe. They were standing in the hall and Frank and Joe called them into the room to sit in for one song. Bucky chose "Sing, sing, sing." It was great! This was the first time I've seen Frank abandon his signature archtop for a flat top acoustic guitar.